Finance Professionals with Tech Skills Wanted

CFOs reported on the importance of business analytics skills for accounting and finance professionals:

Mandatory for everyone 37%

Mandatory for some positions 49%

Nice to have, but not mandatory 12%

Rarely needed 1%

Not needed at all 1%

Percentage of companies who provide professional development opportunities to build business analytics skills: 91%

CFOs cited the following attributes as the hardest to find in accounting and finance job candidates:

Technology experience or aptitude 32%

Functional job skills 21%

Leadership abilities 18%

Soft skills, e.g., interpersonal or communications skills 16%

Organizational culture fit 12%

Top technologies currently used or expected to be used in the next five years, according to accounting and finance executives:

Currently using

Expect to use within the next three years

Expect to use within the next five years

Cloud-based systems

66%

19%

8%

Mobile applications

64%

21%

10%

Big data and advanced analytics

42%

27%

14%

Internet of Things

33%

29%

18%

3D printing

30%

21%

14%

AI and machine learning

24%

29%

21%

Automation

24%

29%

19%

Source: Robert Half survey of more than 1,100 CFOs at companies in the United States. The survey developed for the Jobs and AI Anxiety report includes responses from 250 accounting and finance managers.